Tara Miso Rice

Favorite Drag Community Quote – “All Drag is Art and All Art is Beautiful.”

Q: How did you get your drag name? What is the character of your drag persona?

A: From the ever so famous drunk celebrity Tara Reid lol! For real though, throughout my college days, I was the messy drunk within my group of friends. It was all about being a tabloid Celebrity back then so my friends and I would just dub ourselves the socialites like Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie, Lindsey Lohan and Bijou Philips. So that’s how I got Tara. Miso Rice came after I grew into my drag. My inspirations were the girls I grew up with, the girls in my high school, the girls I worked with. I grew up in the 90’s so R&B, Hip-Hop and POP was a big deal. I also worked at Contempo Casuals when I was in high school, so anyone who shopped there were my inspiration lol.

Q: Where do you perform? Tell us about a surprising response to your show.

A: I perform anywhere that will pay me my Minimum booking fee lol. So I don’t perform anywhere lol! My home base was Lucky Cheng’s in NYC. It’s where Tara Miso was born and raised. One time, one of the show hostess didn’t show up and I was literally the only senior waitress on shift so I had to balls up and host my first show ever, head on like a deer caught in headlights! Luckily, a few shots in and some over the top funny trash talk, it turned out to be one of the most amazing nights in my drag life! The crowd actually loved me! I made so much money that night haha.

Q: How do you define drag? What is drag all about? What’s your favorite part about being a Cambodian drag queen?

A: Drag is art, its ever-changing, its evolution. The best part of Drag is that it’s so different in many ways just like our world; our Planet, but we as a whole have one thing in Common. We are proud of who we are! The best part of being a Cambodian Drag queen is that I am the most popular one in the world! lol. No, but in all realness, it’s not because of my actual Cambodian title, it’s deeper than that. The influence of my heritage, my history and the values my family has taught me, has helped me to become the type of Drag Queen I am today.

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